Chegwynknocks graft inaction
Written by Writer on Tuesday, October 21st, 2008
Chegwynknocks graft inaction
Wednesday 22nd October, 2008
Post-Courier Online
THE Post Courier Limited’s chairman, Peter Chegwyn, has fired a broadside at the Government for not taking action on corrupt practices this newspaper has exposed.
He also defended the media, saying the country’s bad image relating to corruption was not the media’s fault but “it’s the Government’s own inaction at doing the right thing by its voters”.
Mr Chegwyn said the Post-Courier had always championed the issue of corruption, which he said “threatens the future of this young country”.
He said corruption was evident both in the public and private sector, and that had shown in PNG scoring poorly again in last year’s Transparency International report as “one of the worst in the world”.
“We are not surprised by that report as the Post-Courier has broken a number of major stories involving suspected corrupt deals. The Government has not even had the decency to investigate claims its own ministers are involved in these deals,” he told shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting yesterday
“We have the Taiwanese Dollar for Diplomacy scandal, the alleged $US40 million from logging proceeds stashed away in overseas accounts by ministers and suggestions there might have been illegal kickbacks in the LNG Gas Agreement.
“The very least we expect from a Government that won office because one of its major promises was to promote transparency and good governance, is to deal decisively with suggestions raised by these issues to clear its name, reputation and integrity.
“PNG’s bad image is not the media’s doing, it’s the Govern-ment’s own inaction at doing the right thing by its voters.”
He also said the newspaper was concerned at the Parliament’s lack of action given to the Guns Committee Report.
“I understand the report has not progressed beyond the shelf it was put on after it was written up five years ago now. The Post-Courier is committed to seeing that the report recommendations are acted upon by the Government of the day,” he said.
He said Justice Minister Allan Marat’s recent statement to push for the tabling of the report was welcoming.
“His admission that Parliament has not given the necessary political leadership on the issue of guns is also refreshing. We want to see some results on this as this paper, through its former editor Oseah Philemon, played a leading role in making the campaign the huge success that it was,” he said.
Mr Philemon retired this year after serving the company for 23 years since 1984. He was editor for 12 years.
“While we are still fiercely independent in our reporting and demand the highest in journalistic ethics from our journalists, we are also mindful of changing perceptions of development,” Mr Chegwyn said.
